Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Here's a little photo diary of our trip. And yes, most of the pictures are of food. I can't help it, that's how I roll.

We arrived to New Orleans at about 6:30 so by the time we arrived and got settled into the hotel it was like 8:00 and we were starving. Luckily the hotel suggested Zea's Restaurant. We started with the Thai Mussels. They were absolutely delicious. Steamed in a spicy coconut broth topped with tomatoes and cilantro. The broth was to die for. I liked them so much we came back the next night so I could have them for a late-night snack with a martini before bed.

For my entree I had a substantial piece of seared tuna. It was also delicious, but I was so hungry I ate it before I remembered to take a picture. K-man had surf-n-turf which consisted of a large, delicious crab cake, three enormous shrimp, and a 4 oz steak. I tried it all and it was really good. Zea is a small chain of restaurants in the south, so if you get a chance, I highly recommend it.

The next day we scarfed down the continental breakfast at the hotel (which was pretty good, actually) before our interviewers came to pick us up. It was kind of strange, they wanted everything to appear separate between K-man and me so we were taken in separate cars. During the (seven hour) interview, K-man and I just saw each other a couple times in the halls. During the entire interview however, it was quite apparent every faculty member knew we were partners, so I'm still not sure what the big deal was. We were taken out to lunch separately by faculty members. I went to a Lebanese restaurant and had some yummy falafel. I wasn't about to whip out my camera in front of the faculty members to take a picture of my food, so you'll have to imagine it :) The interview went really well. As we were leaving I was mentally patting myself on the back thinking "this interview thing isn't so bad" when I fell down the stairs in front of the faculty member taking us back to the hotel. I'm not kidding. That's what I get for being so proud of myself--I ended up completely mortified. I'm still finding new bruises from it. Anyway, the department is a very diverse, friendly, outspoken group of people which would be a nice change from my current department. They seemed impressed with both K-man and me so we'll keep our fingers crossed. They are technically temporary positions (although most faculty hinted that it would become tenure-track) which actually is just fine since I can't see myself settling down in New Orleans.

Afterward, we relaxed at the hotel a bit, took a dip in the pool to cool off and then I talked K-man into taking the streetcar to the French Quarter to walk around and get some food. We went to the Redfish Grill. This restaurant was recommended to me by one of my favorite people in the math department, the administrative assistant Erica. I got blackened fish with fried oysters. It sat on a bed of sauteed cabbage and had crispy sweet potatoes on top. Delicious!

K-man got the house specialty, hickory grilled redfish topped with crawfish tails. It was also really good (but not as pretty).

After dinner we walked down Bourbon Street which was absolutely crazy. It was crazier than vegas, we were both kind of in shock. Drinking, naked women, cigar smoking, drinking, mardis gras beads, bars, music, and drinking. This was only like 9pm so I can't imagine how crazy it got later. We walked back on Royal Street which ended up having a ton of great art galleries that were closed. We decided to go back the next day to wander around in the daylight. We came back to the hotel (went to Zea's for mussels and martini) and went to sleep. After the interview and Bourbon Street I was exhausted and slept like a rock. I haven't slept that well in over a year.

In the morning we went to a diner near by and I had a bloody mary that was awesome. Complete with pickled okra!

I also had eggs benedict, but you know what that looks like. We took the street car back to the French Quarter and did some walking around.

A jazz band performing in the street:

A street performer who had cut a hole in a box and made this clever set up:

It was quite cute. Before we saw him performing, we saw him riding a bicycle down the street with all this stuff strapped to his back. He had the make-up and the dog hat on so I just thought he was a furry. His act was quite entertaining though.

Before heading back to catch our plane, we stopped at the Acme Oyster House for a true New Orleans dining experience. I had my first taste of crawfish which was delectable and messy:

K-man went all the way and got a Po' Boy:

That's the trip! We then got on a plane and came home to play catch-up and to see my beautiful friends L&R before they returned to Florida.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

From Bobbibrown.com :
"A complete spring eye, lip and cheek wardrobe - designed by Bobbi. Palette has one bright eye shadow plus four coordinating shades that make it wearable. For lips and cheeks, there are three shades of Pot Rouge. Imagine the possibilities."

I got Bobbi Brown color strips in Orchid (no longer available, but they do still have the other two color choices, bonfire and aquamarine, which are both gorgeous). This is my first experience with Bobbi Brown and let me say I'm seriously impressed. The colors are all super flattering and I love that she has multitasking products. The pot rouge is great for lips and cheeks. I've never been a fan of cream blush, but this one is subtle and you don't look like a clown when wearing it. I love the two shimmery eye shadows the best. They're also subtle so you don't look like a glittery teenager. Because I'm a packaging nerd, I will comment on the packaging: It is a super smart design. Both strips of color have a clear plastic covering attached that lays flat on them when they are not in use. This way, the colors can't mix together when the compact is closed. I've had problems with eye shadows mixing in the past, so I really appreciate this feature. At the back of the palette is a mirror that is actually usable so it will be great for travel. I find most compact mirrors pretty useless. All in all, this is a rave review!

Update: one of the blogs I go to is having a color strips giveaway, not very many people have entered so far so the odds are pretty good! Head over to BeautySnob to enter.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Tomorrow is K-man's birthday which I like to make a pretty big deal of even though he doesn't particularly want me to. So I decided to make him one of his favorite deserts, a berry tart. Now I'll be the first to say I'm in general a pretty good cook. I'll also be the first to say I'm a terrible pastry chef. I'm just no good at it so I never do it. Aside: The first birthday I spent with K-man I made him a cake from scratch straight from Martha. It looked beautiful when I left my house, but by the time I got to his apartment, the icing had completely dissolved. Dissolved?! I still don't know what happened there.

Anyway, back to the current year. To make my life easier, I decided to use jello lemon pudding instead of lemon custard. Here is how my jello turned out:

Seriously, who can screw up jello pudding? You let me down Cosby!

Because I didn't want to go back to the store, I decided to suck it up and make custard from scratch and it turned out great. Two hours and like 10 dirtied pans later, here's the final product:

Next year, I'll buy a tart. Now I know why they charge $16 for those suckers.